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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page research paper/essay that discusses the issues involved in the case of Nancy Cruzan, as discussed in William Colby’s book Long Goodbye. Cruzan was in a persistent vegetative state when life support was finally withdrawn due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision. The writer focuses on the ethical issues involved from a nursing standpoint. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
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6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcolcru.rtf
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that Nancy would come awaken from her coma, but as time passed and tests showed that her frontal cerebral cortex was atrophying, the hope evaporated. Because her parents knew her
"as only parents can" and also "based on statements made by her to her sister at the time of their grandmothers death regarding the prolonging of life when there was
no purpose left to that life, Nancys parents, Joe and Joyce Cruzan, petitioned the court for permission to stop artificial hydration and feeding and allow their child to die (Colby
47). It would take seven years of appeals and court cases going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to terminate life support for Nancy Cruzan
(Colby, 2002). William Colby, the pro bono lawyer, who handled this case, describes in his book The Long Goodbye how Nancys fate became entangled in politics and esoteric ethical discussions,
as the nation wrestled with the wrestled with the concept of having a "right to die." Eventually, the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, allowed Nancy to have a peaceful
death. In the Cruzan case, the Supreme Court found in favor of an individuals right to refuse medical treatment, including artificial hydration and feeding (Colby, 2002). However, the toll
that the legal struggle took on her family was immense. Her father never recovered emotionally and committed suicide (Colby, 2002). Review of the Issues Throughout most of human history,
when someone fell into a coma and did not recover, death was automatic due to dehydration and starvation. Also, in previous eras, if the brain was deprived of oxygen for
a period of time sufficient to cause irreversible brain damage, the patient died. A diagnosis of persistent vegetative state was first defined in medical literature in the early 1970s due
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